3/25/2016

Arizona - California - Running the Dike

Or "The Coyote is after you!" Wikipedia says that a dike can also be called a levee or a trench or even a ditch. But there is a very low coolness factor in claiming to "Run a Ditch" so I decided to go with the name on the map. Even though the name of the body of water appears to be the Colorado River. So I jumped out of the car on a dirt road that blended in with the freshly plowed, but dry & dusty fields in Mohave Valley (spelling correct) and ran towards the dike. Just as I got near the river, I saw signs saying that I was entering the Fort Mojave Reservation and agreeing to different laws, rules and regulations. My response was to keep on running to the river & then to turn South.

My reward was to see a road runner. It flushed out about 20 feet in front of me and proceeded to race in a straight line ahead of me. Over the next minute it ran continuously in front of me, increasing the gap by 40-50 yards before speeding off among the brush without even a "Beep Beep!" (or "Meep Meep?) While I am no Wile E. Coyote, I understand why he would would be hard to catch.

The run finished with a stretch through a neighborhood of nice vacation houses and a jaunt on the bridge into Needles, California.
Plowed fields in Arizona

Dike Road near the Colorado River

Welcome to Needles, California
Crazy Ass Running Plan, #CARPe  Map